'Laptops still the No.1 device for students'

Forget tablets – laptops are still the student’s device of choice, senior figures have told PCR.

The news comes after a poll found that 85 per cent of US students aged 18 to 26 own a laptop and say it’s their device of choice for learning – ahead of desktops and tablets.

AMD’s Back-to-School Technology Usage Survey, conducted by Harris Poll, also found that 81 per cent of students can’t imagine doing school work without their technology, and the main considerations when choosing a laptop were fast performance (according to 40 per cent of respondents), price (26 per cent) and battery life (25 per cent).

Naeem Adam, tech buyer at the Co-operative Group, said: “Laptops far outsell desktops and all-in-ones [for students] because the technology consumer of this day and age wants style over substance.

“In the past they’d look straight past desktops and towards laptops, hence the switch in sales this past decade. Nowadays they look past laptops and to tablets, and then back to laptops, because some consumers aren’t ready to switch over and commit to a tablet if they only have enough money for one device.”

AMD’s EMEA general manager Darren Grasby told PCR: “It’s quite interesting because this poll firmly points out for me the need for a productivity, creativity and connection device. That’s really going to drive the awareness around our APUs, in both laptops and small form factor desktops. And as more students get connected through a smartphone, tablet or a notebook, I do believe that the education demands around sitting in a classroom will change.”